Sleeve pack containers used for the storage and movement of bulk materials or other items are known in the art. Once filled with bulk materials or other items, the sleeve packs are placed onto conveyances, transported to a given destination and then removed from the conveyance to be unloaded. In general, known sleeve pack containers are collapsible and include two specialized pallets enclosing a reusable sleeve. Conventional sleeve packs are typically made up of a standard pallet size plastic base for forklift entry, foldable, collapsible walls, and a plastic lid. When empty, the sleeve packs can be collapsed down and the base and lid nested together for shipping and to conserve warehouse space. However, often times, the base and lid assemblies are different in design and structure which leads to increased manufacturing costs.
Some known sleeve packs have bases nestable with lids, such that the stacking height of sleeve packs is reduced. These stacked sleeve packs must be properly oriented for a base of one sleeve pack to nest with a lid of another sleeve pack. Properly orientating a sleeve pack for stacking can require rotating the entire sleeve pack 180 degrees from an unnestable orientation to a nestable orientation. Taking the time to properly orient sleeve packs for compact stacking decreases efficiency.
Sleeve packs must be able to support and contain heavy loads. As a result, known molded sleeve pack bases and lids are typically formed from a material having sufficient thickness to provide strength and rigidity necessary for a fully loaded sleeve pack. Material thickness has a direct impact on material costs.
Therefore, a need exists for a stackable sleeve pack system that reduces the above identified inefficiencies and costs of current sleeve pack containers.